Mostly Clear, 49° F
(Sept. 21, 1916 - May 23, 2015)
Longtime Powell resident Catherine (Kay) Hannum died in Greeley, Colorado, on May 23, 2015. She was 98.
Catherine Taylor Tuff was born Sept. 21, 1916, at the family farm in Barton, North Dakota.
She was the fifth child of 12 children born to William Tuff and Eileen Carl Tuff. She attended Rugby High School then went to North Dakota State Agricultural College in Fargo. She taught rural school during the war.
On Dec. 23, 1941, she married Maurice Hannum. Shortly after their marriage, Morry left for the Pacific in WWII and was gone for 38 months. After his return, four children were born to this union: Sandra Kay Hannum, Terri Anderson (Charles) of Mayfield, Kentucky, Garth Hannum of Greeley, Colorado, and Lisa Grimsley (Pat) of Billings, Montana.
When Kay and Morry moved to Powell in 1965, they ran the Dutch Mill Café. After they sold that, Kay went to work at Northwest College in the bookstore. She loved her job and would often ask the exchange students over for Sunday dinner so they could get a home-cooked meal. She was a very good cook.
She was very active at Hope Lutheran Church. Nothing was more important to her than Jesus Christ.
After she retired, Kay enjoyed volunteering at the Powell Hospital, as she had quite the green thumb and kept an eye on all the plants they had.
Kay was preceded in death by her daughter Sandra Kay, her parents, her husband Morry, four brothers, and four sisters.
She had three grandsons, William, David, and Daniel Anderson; two granddaughters Toni Beaver (Charles) and Randi Kay Hannum; and six great-grandchildren who were the light of her life: Katy, Michael, and Maksim, Taylor, David and Bella.
Cremation has taken place.
A memorial service will be held in Powell at a later date and interment will be at Riverside Cemetery in Fargo.
Memorial donations can be made to Hope Lutheran Church in Powell, or to the hospice organization of your choice.
